Comforting Risa
by simply.asha
Summary: Risa is sad, she looks for some comfort..and actually found it. sorry i'm bad at summaries. oneshot, SatoRisa, and an implicit iota of DaiRiku. R


Comforting Risa

A/N:my first fic ever published.. be nice.. spent 3 nights sleepless just to get this done. oh. it's to celebrate my graduation from middle school with good scores too! reviews+rates would be a very sweet present 4 me. thx, and go with the story!!

revised edition ^^

disclaimer: i don't own DN Angel. i just own some kind of obsession about it..sigh

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She was running through the rain. Her breathing was all messed-up; short and fast-paced. She did not care about all of those curious, questioning eyes of the other pedestrians as she passed by. She also shared a common indifference about the rain, nor the fact that it was really late for a girl to be outside.

As she run tears streamed down from her tear ducts, making her face wetter and wetter; for her face had been bathed with the rain since long before this. However, as always, she did not pay a single iota of attention to this particular reality.

But after all, she ran, and ran, and ran—

Then she stopped in front of a certain door. She panted hardly, whilst in the same time, sobbing uncontrollably. This made her barely had the energy to straighten her body and press the bell.

She just bent down, staring to the red, damp doormat, water dripping from the tips of her hair and the pink sleeping gown she was wearing, joining the drops of her salty tears.

She began to shiver, as it was really cold outside. Her severe quivering was not caused by only the weather, but also by sadness and desperation that filled her heart so; she felt like suicide.

The girl could not hold it anymore. She must see him. She must meet him, or she will really end up on the newspapers.

So she drew a big breath, tried to ignore her constant sobbing, erased the remnants of her tears with her equally wet sleeves and pressed the bell.

Then, she waited.

After a minute or so, the door went open, revealing a blunette boy, wrapped carelessly in warm black clothing, with the lazy query of 'yes?' which immediately turned to a disbelieving question of her name,

'Miss Harada?'

The brunette forced a smile, returning his greeting, despite her red and swollen eyelids practically screamed to the boy that she's really, really, really sad. 'Do you have some time?' she gave a small sob as she looked down.

Satoshi Hiwatari frowned, 'Miss Harada, where is your umbrella? You're soaking wet—'

'I—I'm sorry!' she shrieked shrilly, 'I—I just have to see you!'

The blunette stared at her, sighed and quietly opened the door wider, leading her to the inner living room. He closed the door, then stared to the quivering brunette, and asked her to sit down while he strolled to his bedroom to find some dry clothes.

He found a T-shirt and a pair of trousers, the thrust it along with a small clean towel to her cold hands, saying that she better dry herself first so she won't be sick, before explaining what the problem is.

So she walked weakly to the white bathroom, dried herself, and went back to the living room, unable to stop sobbing, to face Satoshi, who was sitting upon a couch near the window, staring quizzically to her figure,

'What is bothering you so much?'

Young Harada Risa sat on a nearby couch, mute and shaking. The blunette sighed again, and then offered her something to drink; yet she was silent all the time. Making a self-judgment, Satoshi made a cup of warm chamomile tea and brought it gingerly to the coffee table sat between them.

'Drink, Harada-san. You might as well feel better.'

Huskily muttering her gratitude, she took the mug and drank some. The boy was right. Tea is an unaddictive sedative. Then slowly, she began to have control over her body. Little by little, her sobs faded, but she was still, as silent as a brick wall.

The blunette stared to the girl as she went superbly silent beside her occasional sobs. He waited for her to speak, but as fifteen minutes passed without any single breathe of word, he decided to spoke,

'What happened?'

She looked up to the pair of the sky-blue eyes and shook her head, 'Nothing.' Satoshi raised an eyebrow, 'Nonsense. What is going on, Miss Harada?'

Harada Risa stared down to her borrowed indoor slippers; tears began to form on her tear ducts while her chest ached from sadness. Thirty seconds later, she let out a small question,

'Can I just... stay here for a while?'

He stared to her, understanding her unwillingness to speak. She seemed so sad and most of all…fragile. The blunette heaved a sigh, couldn't help but feeling a little blotch of sympathy. As he stood up from the chair, he said calmly, 'Well, if that is what you want.'

She lifted her face, made a frail smile, then croaked, 'Thank you, Hiwatari-san.' The boy replied shortly after that. 'Iie,' he paused, then added, 'it's fine. Take your time.'

He left for the kitchen, and the girl remained on the comfortable leather sofa, weeping heavily to her lap, tears dripping fast and thick.

After a minute, Satoshi went back to the room, supporting a tray where he put a bowl of warm crème soup he just made an hour ago, his all-time favorite in such a harsh weather.

Young Harada looked at him as he entered the room, and he looked back. The blunette then put the tray in front of her, prompting her calmly to eat,

'Eat, Miss Harada.'

She stared at him and shook her head. The boy clicked his tongue impatiently, 'You should eat if you don't want to be sick. Please be considerate.'

'I don't care anymore,' she answered in a husky whisper, erasing her tears with her sleeves, 'I don't even care if I die.'

'Well, you don't, but I am perfectly certain that your loved ones, especially your parents, do care for your welfare,' he replied smoothly, 'after all, it's the least I can do.' Risa stared at him, red-eyed and sobbing, followed by a sentence, 'You don't have to do anything, Hiwatari-san,' she paused and whispered,

'_Just… please stay_…'

Satoshi gazed at her, and couldn't help but frowned in the girl's peculiar acts. _What is going on, actually?_ The boy bewildered to himself. But he eventually backed down, shrugging, 'Very well, then. I will.'

He strolled to his bookshelf and picked a book, which was the moth's best book. He then carried the thick blue paperback book to his favorite corner near the window. The boy sat on a comfortable sofa he put there, and read mutely.

Around ten minutes later, he felt something made contact with his back. Anything it was, it's damp, shaking, and loud. He looked to his six-o'clock direction and found—

Young Harada Risa, wailing incoherently in supreme sorrow, sitting next to him, resting her forehead on his back. He sighed and called her calmly, 'Miss Harada?'

'Please…' he heard her whisper between the uncontrollable sniveling. Her sadness was the reason of her difficulty to talk. She coughed thrice, then cried again before continuing,

'Please let me stay… I can't go anywhere else…' she cried loudly, hands clutching desperately to the back of his T-shirt.

Stunned as he can be, that time, the beglassed boy did not make a single sound, even when he realized that his shirt was soaked in her tears. He did exactly like she begged him to.

Satoshi Hiwatari just stayed.

The sound of her choking sobs and wails filled the room, almost out sounding the rain outside. This particular thing made him pitied the girl more and more. So he out his book down, and carefully cleared his throat.

Understanding his signal, Harada Risa withdrew, enabling him to turn 90 degrees to his left. The blunette looked at her clouded chocolate irises in sympathy and told her precisely what she wanted to hear.

He simply told her, 'Miss Harada, it will all be alright.'

The people around her frequently said the words to the girl, but this time it was different. As cliché as it is, the words eased her searing pain, making her calm in a matter of seconds.

Risa slowly nodded and dried her tears with her sleeves, still buried in a heap of sadness and guilt. She felt guilty for causing such a trouble to her classmate. So she suppressed her tears and asked the boy, 'Am I a burden, Hiwatari-san?'

The boy slide a glare to the girl's brown orbs from the book (yes, he had continued reading) and said politely with a small smile, 'Of course not, Miss Harada. What makes you think so?'

The young girl burst to tears again, but this time, fortunately, a quieter one. Even after the boy's statement that she isn't a burden, she still couldn't help but feeling a bit guilty.

The blunette went back to his book (was it really interesting, Satoshi?) and proceeded his reading, regardless of the girl's wailing. He's used to read under such noises anyway. However, as her damp head touched his shoulder when the brunette sat leaning to the boy, his concentration shattered.

_Poor thing…_

Satoshi glared in sympathy at her and sighed. She was crying silently, but the amount of tears streaming down from her eyes somehow told the boy that she was suppressing herself. He knew she wanted to cry louder, but struggling to hide it from him.

Some time later he found himself lifting an arm and carefully encircled her trembling shoulders with it. He then said soothingly, 'It's okay, Miss Harada. Don't hold it back.'

He, of all people, understood her circumstances. He sometimes has this too. He calls it a _breakdown_. Whenever this particular condition hit him, he felt so sad and miserable; he wanted to cry or smash things, or in the worst scenario, he will try to kill himself; and he couldn't stop.

And when it happens, he figured out, that it would be really nice to have a shoulder to cry on, somebody who tells him that everything will be alright… That it's absolutely normal to be sad and who will provide him a sanctuary..

But since he had none, he decided to be that person for young Harada Risa. He will try his best to comfort her, to make her feel better,

Because seeing her happy would make him feel the same.

Yes, he enjoys looking at her smile each morning at school; although he doesn't look like it. Even though Satoshi Hiwatari had the darkest past anyone will ever imagine, he is still purely human. And humans are vulnerable to humane affections, despite they said so or not.

He cares for her. He wanted to see her smiling happily or laugh in joy, so he will try really hard to make her feel better this one time.

Realizing the meaning of the warm words and caress, Harada Risa let go. She cried like never before. It was the most desperate and emotional that she can barely breathe. The sadness suffocated her, made her broke to a fit of coughing sobs.

And Satoshi gently stroked her hair, soundlessly, not even protesting that he loud shrieks of sorrow hurt his left ear. It's okay for him, as long as she would feel better.

In sixteen minutes, she had no energy left. Her wild wailing decreased, replaced by silent sobs. Her face was all red and wet. She raised a hand to erase the trails of her tears, and then closed her eyes, trying to go to sleep, still leaning to the boy's warm shoulder.

As the rain outside turned to sprinkles of water (he calls it afire-alarm rain), the room went incredibly silent. The boy continued to stroke her hair until her sobs disappeared completely, a sign that the girl's really asleep.

He looked at her and heaved a heavy sigh. She's calm at last. He raised his other hand and carefully brushed some of her wet strands of hair that covered her eyes. He tucked them behind her ears, and then stayed perfectly still, continuing on his book.

After twenty minutes, he closed his book and gingerly lifted the girl's head from his shoulder. He stood up, setting the girl to a comfortable sitting position, then strolled for his bedroom.

He walked back to the living room with a pillow. He placed it quietly on the place he once sat upon, then gently pushed the girl so she fell exactly on the pillow, she let out a slight grunt and Satoshi grimaced to himself. _Sorry, Harada-san._

The blunette adjusted the position of her feet, then left for his front living room. He approached the phone and pressed the Harada Mansion's number.

He waited through the dial tone and a lazy voice eventually croaked,

'_Whattizit?_'

'Harada Riku-san?'

'Yea..'

The boy cleared his throat and apologetically introduced himself, 'Harada-san, this is Satoshi Hiwatari. I'm very sorry to disturb your slumber...' In a millisecond, Elder Harada jolted up awake. She swallowed to get rid of her croaking voice and quickly spoke,

'Jeez! Oh, I'm so sorry, Hiwatari-san! What can I do for you?'

The blunette glared to the inner living room and enunciated dubiously, 'Well... your sister is here at the moment, Harada-san.'

'What do you mean?'

'Around three and a half hours ago, she came by, crying. I guess she has a problem so I let her stay,' he answered calmly. Riku gaped, 'Two hours ago? It was raining!'

'Precisely,' he replied, and then continued regretfully, 'I'm sorry to say this, Harada-san, but I'm afraid I need you to come by and pick your sister because---'

'No problem. I'm coming. You're still at your old place, yes?' she cut in impatiently.

Glad because he didn't have to talk much, Satoshi smiled to himself and said, 'Yes. Thank you, Harada-san.'

'Nay… it's Riku, remember?' she corrected as she shrugged over a coat.

'Oh,' he made a small snort, 'Yes. I forgot. I'm sorry. Thank you, _Riku_-san.'

'Yeah. Thanks, Hiwatari-san.'

He put the phone down and walked back to the inner living room to find Harada Risa sleeping peacefully. He sat down on the floor next to her, then waited for his classmate's twin sister to come.

Thirty minutes was all the auburn haired girl needed. She reached the door and pressed the bell. Satoshi got up and answered her.

'Hi. Oh, I'm so sorry, Hiwatari-san. Is she a problem?'

'No. Not at all. Come in, Riku-san.'

He let her in, and led her straightly to her sister.

Riku entered the room and quickly knelt on the floor beside her. She looked up to the scrutinizing blunette and asked, 'Has she been asleep for a long time, Hiwatari-san?'

'Around an hour, I guess,' he answered.

Elder Harada nodded, 'That would be enough, I think.' Satoshi frowned, 'What?'

'Just see,' she shrugged and patted her sister's cheeks, saying that she has to wake up. Risa's eyelids fluttered open in a minute. She shifted away when she saw her sister. The clouded chocolate eyes went gleaming with anger. Satoshi's eyebrows raised in confusion.

'What are _you_ doing here?'

'Picking you up, of course,' the older girl shrugged, then offered her sister a helping hand, 'C'mon, let's go. It's really late.'

'Why do _you_ care?'

Two pairs of dark eyebrows (Satoshi's and Riku's) twitched to a deep frown, and it was the female who spoke with a glimt of annoyance in her voice, 'Well, since I'm practically your sister, I care. Come on, let's go.'

'No,' the brunette shook her head. Her once angered eyes turned cloudy, 'I don't want to go home. I want to---'

'This is not the time to act bratty, Risa. You have to go home. Look at the time!'

'I DON'T WANT TO!' the younger girl yelled, her face reddened in fury as tears began to form on the tip of her eyes. Harada Riku's frown went deeper, 'Jeez, what's going on with you?'

'JUST GO AWAY!' Risa cried, throwing pillows at her sister, who immediately ducked. The auburn-haired girl lost her patience and yelled back, 'WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, SILLY?'

'DON'T CALL ME SILLY!'

'IT'S MY MOUTH AND YOU CAN'T TELL ME WHAT SHOULD I SPEAK ABOUT AND WHAT SHOULD I DON'T!'

Satoshi merely kept his role as the silent scrutinizer as the two girls yelled to each other. He then realized that it's extremely late and their screams would arouse the neighbors. And that would make a scene.

And he doesn't like to make a scene.

He stepped in to the battlefield. Risa was crying loudly, and Riku was looking at her in supreme anger. He sighed and placed a resisting hand over Riku's shoulder.

'Riku-san, I will handle this.'

'No, Satoshi! This is our problem and we will finish it by ourselves!' she spat, each word pronounced loudly. The blunette sighed, 'Calm down, then. Please.'

She drew some big breaths and eventually went calm. Satoshi quickly pulled her out of the room and talked to her, 'Harada-san. She is now really vulnerable to those kinds of explosions. So please, don't lose your head—'

'I am not losing my head!'

'Riku,' he called, trying hard to be patient. He then continued, 'Your sister is really sad. She is crumbling mentally, so please just let me handle this.'

'I don't know what's going on anymore!'

'Neither do I, but let me handle her, Riku-san. Please. Just wait here, okay? I'm begging you. It's far too late and what do you think the neighbor will say?'

The girl frowned, then sighed her 'OK then'. The boy nodded to her and apologetically told her that if she desires something to drink she can take it by herself at the kitchen. Riku shrugged and the boy slipped quietly in to the room.

Risa was still crying. She cried worse than she did before this, tears rained down from her eyes, dripping uncontrollably to her lap. She would sometimes broke to a fit of coughs, then cry again shortly after that.

'Miss Harada...'

He sighed and sat beside her. The brunette turned to him, and flung her arms around his chest, sobbing against the warm black cotton.

'_I hate her! I hate her! Traitor!'_

This shocked him, the somewhat unexpected actions, but he just exhaled and wrapped his arms around her protectively. The girl cried loudly as she hugged the boy slightly tighter, '_Don't leave me alone like she does_…'

'I won't, Miss Harada. It's okay,' he gently stroked her hair and rocked her back and forth, 'There, there. It's okay..'

Five minutes, and her sobbing faded. Satoshi released her from his loose embrace and carefully brushed her hair to tuck them behind her ears. He made a small smile then, 'There you go. Now tell me what is going on. I might be able to help you.'

'You wouldn't understand,' she cried. The blunette sighed, 'If you don't tell me, how should you know?'

'It's just…' she hung her head down and cried to her lap, 'I'm so lonely… Nobody notices me… _Nobody cares_…' Satoshi frowned, 'There is no way that can happen to you. You're practically famous at school. Of course everybody will notice you. Plus, you have a family that cares so much about you---'

'No,' she cut in sadly, 'No, they don't care. My parents are always working long hours and when they're home they would always be tired and all. They have no time for me. And Riku,' she paused, 'She's always busy with her _dahlin_ Daisuke! She always acts that I'm not important when he's around, and since he's always around, I'm never important.. she doesn't need me anymore. No more late visits to my room when I'm down just to ask me what's going on… Nothing...' she sniveled and erased her tears, '_It's like I'm abandoned... Nobody needs me.._'

'Miss Harada,' he thoughtfully said after two long minutes of silence.

'Those are merely in your mind. You should understand that there are people who care for you, though you may not know. You should understand too, that Miss Harada and Niwa is currently in a relationship, so it's almost rational if she seems to be a bit different toward you, since they are new. But blood is thicker than water—of course she cares for you because you're a sibling of hers, no matter what.'

'But she chose Daisuke over me! That's betrayal, Hiwatari-san!' the brunette girl shrieked, 'For her, wine is thicker than blood! She prefers _dahlin_ Daisuke; darling, darling Daisuke-koi than me!' she broke once again to faint whimpering, 'I just cant stand it..'

'It hurts when she talks to him happily over the phone,' she wailed sadly, 'When she talks about him all the time… when she cry to him to the phone, not to me! I feel betrayed! We're twins! Our bonds are supposed to be tighter than anything!

Silence, then a breaking voice sadly came, '_I'm sorry, Risa… I didn't mean to…'_

Risa and Satoshi turned to the door, where Harada Riku stood, crying silently to a piece of handkerchief. The auburn haired girl stepped closer to the white couch, tears flowing fast to the piece of cloth,

'_I'm so sorry I ignored you…_'

As Elder Harada sat on the couch and her sister unwillingly looked at her with equally tearful eyes, Satoshi quietly stood up and slipped out of the room.

_This is no longer my territory,_ he thought as he disappeared behind the bookshelf, _well I hope they make up quickly._ He glanced to the big clock inside his bedroom and gaped,

_What? Three already?_

He strolled further to the room and changed his dampened shirt. He caught sight of his bed and found it really, really inviting. But he just sighed and shook his head hastily. No, he must not fall asleep.

So he walked silently toward the inner living room, but didn't enter the room. He sat somewhere near the oak door, but didn't eavesdrop them. It is not like him. He must stay a gentleman no matter what, but he did heard something.

_It isn't eavesdropping when it's heard accidentally, right? It's what you called _over heard _something, not eavesdropping…_

He heard elder Harada (yes, he can easily tell their voices apart even when there is a three centimeters-thick wall between them) promising that she would be there for her hence this time, and Risa cried again.

Riku told her not to cry.

But Risa cried anyway, this time a small chuckle mixed with it.

Satoshi sighed in relief.

He let his stare off the door; now staring at a painting hung on the wall opposite him, struggling to stay awake.

Twenty minutes later the door opened, revealing the twins, smiling happily now. The blunette quickly hoisted himself to stand and asked both of them whether they had made it up between them or not.

The older girl smiled and nodded. 'Great then,' he nodded back. Harada Riku then bowed low before him, 'I'm very sorry to bother you, Satoshi-san. Thank you very much…'

'It's fine, Riku-san.'

Risa was still silent, but her lips were curved to a small, genuine earnest smile. But her silence mad hem asked, 'Are you okay now, Harada-san?'

'Yeah. Thank you, Hiwatari-san.'

'Ummm… I think it's late now.. we must go home,' came Elder Harada's small quick voice. Satoshi blinked and nodded, 'Yeah. I suppose so.'

He escorted the girls to the main doors of his flat and both of them said their gratitude and goodbye. He replied them politely, then said,

'So.. good night, Harada-san.'

'Oyasuminasai! 'Till tomorrow, Hiwatari-san! C'mon, Risa!' returned the auburn-haired girl, walking quickly down the stairs, but she stopped when she realized that her sister isn't going.

'Jeez, come on! It's late!!'

'Go on first, I will follow you! I guess I left something inside,' the brunette said, frowning and rummaging her bag. Riku rolled her eyes heavenward and sighed, 'Don't take too long, okay?'

'I wont~' she intoned, still rummaging her bag.

Riku left and Risa stopped messing with it. She lied to her sister, for the umpteenth time in history. She just smiled to the blunette as he realized she was pretending.

'Harada-san, why—'

'Tee-hee. It's okay, isn't it?'

Satoshi smiled, 'I guess you're really better now.'

He couldn't tell her how joyous the small curve made him feel. That he had finally succeed to make her feel better resulted to a sudden flush of relief.

'Hai, thanks to you,' she grinned happily, then looked around for her sister. After being sure Riku wasn't around, Risa muttered, calling his name dubiously,

'Umm… Hiwatari-san?'

'Yes?'

As she caught him off guard, she immediately stood up on her toes and gave a small peck on the blunette's cheek.

'Wh—'

The boy went extremely red. Roses would be pale compared to his utterly bewildered expression. His lips hung open a little in ultimate disbelief. His eyes wide.

'Thanks,' she grinned, 'For everything.'

'D-Don't mention it.'

Risa grinned even wider seeing this version of Satoshi she didn't know, then waved cheerily to him as she bounce away, 'Well… See ya at school, Satoshi-kun!'

'Y-yeah,' he subconsciously answered, his hand crept to his cheek, touching the warm, tingling spot where she kissed him.

_This. Is. Surreal._

With a small giggle, Risa strolled to the car and went home with her sister, happily humming a cheerful song.

Riku realized how dramatic her sister's mood swung, and she asked curiously, 'What is it?'

She grinned to her, glancing playfully to a certain door. She would come again. Oh, yes, she would. And this time, she's not going to cry.

'Ah, nothing, nee-chan..'

.owari.


End file.
